GB2270462A - Mop - Google Patents

Abstract

A floor mop comprises a head having a lower face which, in use, is placed against the surface to be mopped and which has around its periphery a fringe of material 13 for collecting fluff and grit, that face of the mop having means 15 for retaining a sheet or pad of dusting material within an area of the lower face of the mop head which is surrounded by the fringe. <IMAGE>

Description

FLOOR/SURFACE MOP The present invention relates to a mop for sweeping/cleaning smooth surfaces, in particular a floor mop for use on a smooth floor, for example one which is tiled or covered with material such as linoleum and similar floor covering materials.

At present floor mops in use in industrial/institutional environments such as factories and hospitals are commonly of one of two types. The first is similar to a conventional domestic floor mop and has a head provided with a group of loops or strands of cotton or synthetic yarn; the head is elongated to increase the coverage of the sweep of the mop. The second type has an elongate head which has wrapped over it a disposable cloth.

Neither of these types of mop is particularly satisfactory. The yarn type collects fluff and grit but tends to leave fine dust behind. The disposable types collect fine dust but tend to leave fluff and grit behind, or else push grit along the floor, scratching its surface.

The present invention seeks to provide a floor mop which draws on the advantages of both of the above conventional types while reducing or eliminating the disadvantages associated with them individually.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a floor mop having a mop head having a lower face which, in use, is placed against the surface to be mopped and which has around its periphery a fringe of material for collecting fluff and grit, that face of the mop having means for retaining a sheet or pad of dusting material within an area of the lower face of the mop head which is surrounded by the fringe.

A second aspect of the invention provides a floor mop having a mop head having a lower face which, in use, is placed against the surface to be mopped and which has around its periphery a fringe of a first mopping material, that face of the mop having means for retaining a sheet or pad of a second mopping material within an area of the lower face of the mop head which is surrounded by the fringe. In this aspect of the invention one of the mopping materials may be adapted for collecting fluff and grit and the other of the mopping materials adapted for dusting.

Preferably, the fringe material comprises strands or loops of a yarn material. A number of measures can be applied, alone or in combination, to assist in retaining the sheet/pad in place; the lower face of the mop head may comprise a recess which leaves a space to accommodate the sheet or pad when the mop head is lightly pressed against the surface to be mopped (this recess may simply be the space below the lower face of the head surrounded by the fringe, or may comprise an actual depression in that face); and the lower face of the mop head may be provided with frictional material to releasably retain the dusting material

therein. This frictional material may be disposed in a number of separate areas of the floor of the holder to provide areas at which the strip/pad material can be pressed against the surface.

Preferably, the mop head is releasably attached to a handle, for using the mop from a standing position, and is suitably attached to a transverse support at one end of the handle. This attachment may be via a swivel joint, which preferably permits pivoting of the handle about an axis parallel to the plane of the mop head and relative rotation between the handle and the mop head about the axis of the handle.

The sheet or pad may be impregnated with a floor treatment material such as a surface cleaning and/or polishing agent.

The invention will be further described by way of non-limitative example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a side elevation of an embodiment of the floor mop according to the present invention; Figure 2 is a cross-section on the line Il-Il Figure 1 of the mop head, to an enlarged scale; and Figure 3 shows in cross-section a detail of part of the swivel joint of the mop head, also to an enlarged scale.

Figure 1 shows a mop 1 embodying the present invention and which comprises a handle 3, to enable a user to operate the mop from a standing position, articulated by means of a swivel joint 5 to a mop base 7. The mop base 7 carries a demountable mop head 9 described in more detail below.

The swivel joint 5 provides two degrees of freedom of movement of the mop head 9 relative to the handle 3. A pivot at 5a permits relative pivoting of the handle back and forth as indicated in figure 1 about a horizontal axis. The handle 3 is also rotatable about its own axis relative to the mop base 7 by means of a rotatable connection between the handle 1 and the swivel joint 5 described below with reference to figure 3.

The above two degrees of freedom of movement of the mop head relative to the handle are intended to make handling of the mop easier in particular when mopping around obstacles and into corners and so forth.

In plan view, the mop base 7 is conveniently of an elongate shape with two longer parallel edges and the two shorter edges converging towards one another (for example at an angle of about 300) so that the longer of the two parallel edges of the base 7 form acute angles with the shorter edges to provide vertexes convenient for mopping into corners. This shape of the base is purely for convenience and forms no part of the present invention in its broadest aspect.

The mop head 9 is releasably attached to the mop base 7 by means of Velcro (registered trademark) or a similar method of attachment. For this purpose, the underside 7a of the mop base 7 is faced with Velcro and the upper surface1 of the mop head 9 is faced with Velcro, brushed nylon or other suitable material to enable the mop head to be releasably attached to the mop base sufficiently securely to retain the mop head in place during use while at the same time enabling it to be readily demounted from the mop base once the mop is lifted from the floor. The lower face of the mop base and the upper face of the mop head may be profiled (e.g. by corresponding ridge and recess formations) to assist in positively locating the mop head on the base.

The mop head 9 is of a corresponding shape and size in plan as the mop base 7 and has around its periphery a fringe 13 of material suitable for collecting fluff and grit. (Note that the fringe portions at the (shorter) edge of the mop head have been omitted from figure 2 in the interests of clarity). A suitable material comprises loops or lengths of natural (e.g. cotton) or synthetic yarn 13a stitched or otherwise attached to the remainder of the mop head.

The fringe defines a recess, generally designated 15 on the underside of the mop head 9 to accommodate and retain a strip 17 of sheet or pad dusting material. The material of this strip is the one conventionally used in dust control mops, a lint-free non-woven sheet. The strip 17 is not attached to the remainder of the mop head 9.

Instead, in use, the strip 17 is laid out upon the floor and then the mop head 9 is placed over it so that the strip 17 is located in the recess 15 on the undersurface of the mop head 9 where it is held captive by the surrounding fringe 13. The retention of the strip 17 in this recess can be assisted by providing the undersurface of the mop head 9 with a layer of suitably textured fabric material stitched to the remainder of the mop head. As shown in the cross section of figure 2, this material may include a number of spaced tufted areas 19 separated by channels or other spaces 21. The provision of these raised, tufted areas 21 helps to remove surface dirt by creating areas of increased contact pressure when the mop is applied to the floor or a wall.

The strip material 17 may be impregnated with one or more surface treatment agents, for example for the purposes of cleaning, polishing and/or anti-static or similar treatment. One suitable material is paraffin wax ordinarily used in floor treatment systems; however a particularly suitable impregnating agent is the product marketed under the name ZING.

It will be apparent that when the strip 17 is to be replaced, the mop head 9 can simply be lifted clear of it, leaving the strip on the floor for replacement by another.

Figure 3 shows in cross-section the upper part of the swivel joint 5. The lower end of the handle 3 has fixed to it a swivel collar 23 with an annular circumferential recess 25. This fits inside and is rotatable relative tothe annular wall 27 of the upper part of the swivel joint and a stud 29 inserted, e.g as a simple frictional fit, into an aperture 31 in the wall of the sleeve and engaging in the recess 25 serves to retain the collar 23 captive in the sleeve while permitting relative rotation of the two and hence the handle and mop head.

In some circumstances, it may be desirable to provide the mop with greater floor coverage capability than that of the embodiment of figure 1. In those circumstances, the mop can be constructed with a mop base in the form of a V each arm of which corresponds with the mop base 7 of figure 1 and has the mop head fitted thereto. The swivel joint 5 connecting the V-shaped mop base to the handle is located at the vertex of the V.

Claims (14)

1. A floor mop having a mop head having a lower face which, in use, is placed against the surface to be mopped and which has around its periphery a fringe of material for collecting fluff and grit, that face of the mop having means for retaining a sheet or pad of dusting material within an area of the lower face of the mop head which is surrounded by the fringe.

2. A mop according to claim 1, wherein the fringe material comprises strands or loops of a yarn material.

3. A mop according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the holder comprises a recess in the face of the head, which leaves a space to accommodate the dusting material when the mop head is lightly pressed against the surface to be mopped.

4. A mop according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the holder is provided with frictional material to releasably retain the dusting material therein.

5. A mop according to claims 3 and 4 wherein the frictional material is disposed in a number of separate areas of the floor of the holder to provide areas at which the dusting material can be pressed against the surface.

6. A floor mop having a mop head having a lower face which, in use, is placed against the surface to be mopped and which has around its periphery a fringe of a first mopping material, that face of the mop having means for retaining a sheet or pad of a second mopping material within an area of the lower face of the mop head which is surrounded by the fringe.

7. A floor mop according to claim 6 wherein one of the mopping materials is adapted for collecting fluff and grit and the other of the mopping materials is adapted for dusting.

8. A mop according to any one of the preceding claims in which the mop head is releasably attached to a handle for using the mop from a standing position.

9. A mop according to claim 8 wherein the mop head is releasably attached to a transverse support at one end of the handle.

10. A mop according to claim 8 or 9 wherein the mop head is articulated to the handle via a swivel joint.

11. A mop according to claim 10 wherein the swivel joint permits pivoting of the handle about an axis parallel to the plane of the mop head and relative rotation between the handle and mop head about the axis of the handle.

12. A mop according to any one of the preceding claims, in combination with a sheet or pad of the dusting material retained in the holder.

13. A combination according to claim 12, wherein the dusting material is impregnated with a floor treatment material.

14. A combination according to claim 13, wherein the floor treatment material is a surface-cleaning and/or polishing agent.